Family at Heart

With the first week of kindergarten under our belts, we definitely deserved a fabulous weekend.  We spent lots of time having fun too.  We didn’t waste a second. Daddy was on a business trip, but was due home on Saturday evening.

A and I started our Saturday at the toy store where we loved to go to the Friday family fun night performances.  They were having the Calico Critters there from 10:30 until 12:30.  A loved it of course.  She posed for pictures, colored a picture, made a bracelet (well, I made it mostly), and got a cool goody bag of stickers and a mini coloring book.  The ladies running the event at the bookstore were fabulous.  It was very fun and a great little activity for our fun weekend.

After we left the toy store, we went next door to Cici’s for lunch.  We both love that place.  It was totally yummy as always.

We were  headed home after lunch and were approaching Highway 79 when I had an awesome idea.  I suggested we go out to Hutto to see our friends whom we hadn’t seen since May.  I figured their little girl would be visiting the restaurant today too.  I was right!  We had a great visit with them.  It was great to see them again.  We couldn’t believe how much T had grown and that she is already 3 years old.   Hubby and I were the ones to take our good friend to the hospital when she was in labor

After our visit, we headed home to see Daddy.  His plane landed around 3:00.  We  were so glad to have him home.  We spent some time at home together and then headed out to Dave & Buster’s for some dinner and games.  It was a blast!  A won 100 tickets playing Deal or No Deal.  She won quite a few tickets playing other things too.  She ended up with 367 tickets and of course, she chose a fuzzy for her prize.  Her name is Kitty.  Hubby won another fuzzy out of the machine.  Her name is Flowers.

Aside from a little emotional stuff on Tuesday morning, A had a fabulous first week.  She loves school, loves her teacher, and loves her classmates.  She made a quick friend, T, that we see every morning in the library.  We are already talking about an after-school playdate   We come home in the afternoon, let A change out of her uniform, and just watch some tv.  I usually have her a snack and water bottle when I pick her up.  She cannot wait to tell me all about  her day.  I love her enthusiasm so much.  After she rests a little bit, we usually head outside for some bike riding or go down to the park.  She has ridden that bike nearly every day since she got it.  We start our shower routine no later than 8:00 and she is asleep by 8:40ish.

So I have covered how her week went.  Mine went well too.  I was a bit emotional Sunday night as I watched her sleeping.  I never let her see me sad though.  That would have only lead to bad things.  Monday morning went smoothly for everyone.  Mommy, Daddy, and A did great.  Afterwards, I joined several playgroup mommy friends for a yummy (and very long, which was awesome) breakfast at Kerbey Lane.  I came home and worked non-stop on corporate taxes for the business.  I got loads of things crossed off my list this week.  Here is a short and not an all-incusive list:

Spreadsheets, monthly returns, and backup completed and delivered to accountant

Oil change and wash for my car

Called the roofer for the house

Scheduled doctor appointment for me

Went to the uniform store

Shopped for upcoming scrap night

Ordered, printed, sorted, and mailed pictures from WV trip

Thank you notes for WV trip

Paid bills

Ordered checks

I know that M will bug me about this next statement, but really that’s just a portion of what I  got accomplished.  I’m really only trying to make a point (wink) and I’m not trying to be a smarty pants (wink again).  She will give me a hard time no matter what so I’ll just have some fun.

We were able to get together with playgroup friends on Thursday evening.  It was nice to see everyone and A had a great time.  It was an added treat to eat with friends since Daddy was out of town.  And again on Friday, she got to go to C and J’s house.  P was visiting them so she got to play with them for a bit.  She still had her uniform on when we went and both boys said she looked “beautiful.”  So cute!

This is one of her favorite after-school things to do.

She is definitely a poser.

This was taken in the library at school on Wednesday, 8/26.

She can wait in the library starting at 7:45. The bell rings at 8:00 and then she walks downstairs to her class. Class officially begins at 8:10.

This was how Day 3 ended. She just took a short power nap and then woke up right after I took this.

This was taken Friday morning. She wanted to wear her full dress uniform (even though she didn't have to). I LOVE this picture!

Well, ready or not for this momma, kindergarten is here.  The first day was Monday, August 24th.  A was so excited!  She looked so beautiful in her little dress uniform.  I’m so glad the first day was on a Monday so she could do her full uniform.  It was awesome   She couldn’t wait to go and see her teacher again either.  We got up as planned and were out of the house at 7:00.  The commute was only 30 minutes so we sat in the car for a bit before joining the other kiddos and parents in the library.  A sat there and read a book.  I just love the whole feel of the school.  It is an old building with the original floors and it just has so much character.  They have it decorated so it almost feels like a house – couches and chairs in the library and foyer, window seats in the library.  I just love it.

We walked her down to her room and she found her seat.  She was so excited.  It just makes me smile to remember her little face.  Perfect first day of kindergarten

A just loves her teacher.  She is so nice!!!!

We have a first day of school tradition – ice cream!!!!!  We did it for both years of preschool and now for kindergarten.  I must say that I love this tradition.  On this first day, Hubby, A and I went to Viva Chocolato at the Domain for some yummy gelato.

We are so proud of our big kindergartener.  Great job Miss A!!!!!!!!!!!!

We hadn’t been to a circus since A was a toddler, but even then, it was a small tent circus.  I knew that the big circus was coming to Austin, but I didn’t feel the need to spend a lot of money for tickets for what I figured would be bad seats.  I couldn’t imagine that we could get good seats for anything less than the $80 seats.  But Hubby insisted that we should go.  I am so glad that he did.  We had the most awesome time in the $40 seats.  I had pictured that the entire place would be filled, but in fact, they didn’t sell the seats that were very far away.  I felt that everyone there had a good seat, no matter what they spent.  It was a much smaller crowd than I expected.  It totally rocked!

The show was like a Vegas production with all of the songs and costumes and the acts were just amazing.  We also got to go to the floor show before the circus began.  We saw some small acts like juggling and the stilt walker there and we got to take some pictures of A with the performers.  She LOVED it!

Thanks Hubby for the idea.  I was in no way sorry that I listened to you

Cool clown.

Cool juggling lady.

A loves to pose with any performer. Previous blog entries are proof of that!

Dress-up time. Fun!

It is the greatest show on earth!

Love the elephants.

A having some circus fun.

The tigers are my favorite.

Amazing!

I couldn't believe how close to the rafters and lights these guys were.

A loved the animals.

Great show!

That was a cool show!

A got a new fuzzy as her souvenir. She named her Pona, and she is definitely her new favorite fuzzy.

About a month ago, I got a friend request from one of my high school friends.  Actually we were very best friends through grade school and then grew apart a bit in junior high and high school.  We did graduate together though and I have always had a special place in my heart for her.  I immediately accepted her friend request and then saw that her network was San Antonio!!!!  I couldn’t believe she was living so close to me.  We immediately started sending messages back and forth and set up a meeting for Saturday, August 22nd.  We met in San Marcos, along with our families, for lunch.  It was so great to see her again and to meet her  husband and daughters.  Her son was visiting family so we didn’t get to meet him.  But we have promised that this meeting was not a one-time thing.  We spent about 2.5 hours together and just had the best visit.  It was really like no time had passed even though it had been 17 years since we had seen one another.  Great way to spend a Saturday afternoon!  I smiled the rest of the day

The title of this post makes me a little sad I will admit.  I have enjoyed being with my angel everyday for the last five years, every second of it.  I have had more fun that I ever thought I would or could.  I have relived my childhood and experienced so many things for the first time right alongside my little girl.  But on Monday, she will go to kindergarten and it is so bittersweet.  I am sad, but I am definitely more excited.  I am so excited for her.  She cannot wait and is so anxious to get started on this new chapter in her life.  I am so happy to be able to watch it.  I know I will still get to be with her every afternoon, but I won’t be able to walk up to her at 11:23 am and get a hug and kiss like I can right now.  I just loved that option and I would just walk up to her for no reason whatsoever and get cuddles and hugs and suggest something fun to do.  And then we would go and do it or change our mind and do something else fun.  That’s my point.  Our days were absolutely our own.  We didn’t have anywhere to be (usually) and even if we did, it was gonna be fun.  We enjoyed our playgroup so much, but I think we had some of our best fun just being in the car together or working on the comptuer together. Oh and the days just hanging out in jammies were and always will be priceless.

Anyway, I wanted today to be special.  I asked her if she would like to go to her school and help her teacher a little bit.  She was all for it.  So we headed to the grocery store and got some Play Doh.  It was on Mrs. R’s wish list for the classroom.  We also picked up a plant for Mrs. R’s desk.  We went down to school and helped with a few things.  We helped to make flannel storyboard pieces and A helped her teacher to organize the different colors of construction paper.  We had a very nice talk with the teacher and A just loves her.  I am so happy that they clicked so well.  I didn’t really expect anything different, but am happy nonetheless.

After we left school, we headed to Kerbey Lane Doll Shop.  I have been wanting to take A there since she was tiny but had never gotten down there.  Today we went and found it.  It was worth the wait.  It was literally heaven for little girls (and their mommas).  Wall to wall dolls, clothes, accessories, and a whole room of dollhouses and furniture.  We could have stayed all day.  But alas, we required food.

We had tried unsuccessfully to invite friends out to lunch at Chuck E. Cheese’s, but it hadn’t worked out.  Well I decided that we would go anyway.  I had to keep the fun rolling after all.  M and Z were there with another friend of theirs.  It was so funny that we happened to be at the exact place at the exact time.  We sat with them and A ran around with Z and G for a bit before they left.  A and I stayed and she finished her tokens off.  She had so much fun.  She walked out of there with two hair clips, a necklace, a bookmark, and stickers.  Pretty lucrative day for the kid!

We finished up our day with dinner at Chick-Fil-A with J, T, and A.  We hadn’t seen them in weeks.  The girls were so happy to talk and play together.  They sat at their own table and had the best time!

I always ask A what her favorite part of her day is at night as we are getting on jammies.  Today she couldn’t decide.  She loved it all.  I did too my sweet girl.

A very nice lady from Cap Metro talked with our playgroup yesterday afternoon at the Lakeline Station.  She gave lots of great safety information to the kiddos, showed them the ticket machines, and showed them where they should stand when they are waiting for the train.  We didn’t get to actually ride a train or get on one, but we have been promised that we can when they begin carrying passengers in February.  Ms. A had conductor hats and maps for the kiddos too.  She was very sweet with them and was so nice to be in the heat to talk with us.  Thank you and best of luck to you Ms. A   We enjoyed our little field trip to the train station.  And then we followed that up with some yummy and oh so cool ice cream.  Awesome!

Ticket machine

Lakeline Station

Stand behind the white line.

Looking at the route the train will take.

Conductor A.

Perfect way to end a playdate - ice cream!!!!

I did quite a bit of cleaning out and just overall straightening of A’s room this week.  Everything I pulled out of the closet was her new favorite thing.  That kiddo couldn’t stand the thought of anything, even complete garbage, being thrown away.  Momma won out though and the moment I said that some stuff had to go before any new stuff had any chance of coming into this house, she relented   And by the way, she is very happy with how her room l0oks.  She goes in there and plays alone now.  That is pretty new for her.  I’m glad you like your room sweetheart!

Tuesday morning was very exciting for A, Hubby and I.  Her school was having its kinder registration at 9:30.  We left in plenty of time so we wouldn’t be a single second late.  As soon as we walked in the door, the headmistress of the school gave A a huge hug.  It was so nice to be greeted that way.  We were directed to the cafeteria to turn in all of our forms.  In there we met A’s teacher, Mrs. R.  She is so extremely nice and A liked her immediately.  We turned in everything and headed downstairs to her classroom.  Hubby and Mrs. R talked for a bit about where A is at the moment with her reading and math while A and I explored the two big classrooms that she will be in everyday.  The teacher cleverly had a scavenger hunt set up so the kiddos could find their way around the room.  A found her cubby, her hook for her backpack, the sign-in table, etc. etc.  We also turned in all of her supplies.  We were free to explore all we wanted and it was great.  The room was very spacious, clean, colorful…I loved it.

After Hubby’s conversation with the teacher, he joined us downstairs and A did the scavenger hunt again with him.  We headed back upstairs to explore a bit more.  Several representatives for the various clubs and organizations were set up in the library.  A talked with a few of them.  I refuse to take on any commitments for the afternoons until I know how tired she will be after school.  If we must come home and let her rest, then that is exactly what we will do.  No way will I be running around to various activities every evening.  We still need our down time and our family time too.  So we didn’t sign up for anything, but the option is still there.  We just need to settle in for a bit first and then think about extra-curricular stuff if we want to go that route.  We picked up our bumper stickers, said goodbye to everyone, and were off to a sushi lunch.  It was a great day!

It has been weeks and weeks since I announced that A had her first loose tooth.  She was very worried about it being painful to get the tooth out so she didn’t mess with it much at all.  In fact, her permanent teeth came in behind the loose one!  We were having dinner with M and her family on Saturday evening and they started talking about how the tooth needed to come out.  So we started bribing A with desserts (I know that’s wrong) and she was really trying to get it out.  She did make quite a bit of progress just at dinner though.  I was sure that we could get it out when we brushed teeth that night and I was right!!!!  She pulled it out and was just so relieved and happy.  The tooth fairy had $10 and a very personal note waiting for her under her pillow.  She used her money to buy four Littlest Pet Shop figurines the next day.  She is very proud of herself and I think the next one might be quite a bit easier for her.  She already has another one that is loose so I’ll keep the updates coming…

Her letter went like this…

Dearest A,

I am so happy to hear that you finally pulled that tooth.  I have been waiting to visit you for a while.  I am so proud of how well you are reading and that you are about to start kindergarten.  I know you will love it and do such a great job.  I have also heard about how well you have been getting along with your friends and about all the fun stuff you have been doing this summer.  It is my pleasure to bring goodies to well-behaved children when they lose their little baby teeth.  Now your big teeth will start to come in.  I hear that is already happening for you.  How exciting!!!

I must go and leave goodies for other children now.  You remember to be a good girl and to listen to your mom and dad.  Have fun at school too.

And again, great job on getting that first tooth out.  I’ll visit you again as soon as you get the next one out.

Kisses,

The Tooth Fairy (she signed it in a script font)

August 15, 2009

She had to immediately call and tell M and Z about the lost tooth   We were all pretty darn excited.  We’ve been waiting forever for it to come out!

This was a very happy moment for her.  She was dancing down the aisle at the grocery store, so happy in the knowledge that she could pick out whichever Littlest Pet Shop figurines she wanted.  We might find her with pliers now trying to pull out her other teeth

Happy girl!!!!